Orwell in Context: Communities, Myths, Values

235 Pages·2007·2.801 MB·English

by  Ben Clarke (auth.)

Orwell in Context
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Orwell in Context
Communities, Myths, Values
Ben Clarke
©BenClarke2007
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-230-51769-1
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Clarke,BenjaminJames,1977(cid:3)
Orwellincontext:communities,myths,values/byBenClarke.
p. cm.
Originallypresentedastheauthor’sthesis(Ph.D.-Oxford).
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Orwell,George,1903(cid:3)1950“Criticismandinterpretation.
2. Orwell,George,1903(cid:3)1950“Politicalandsocialviews. 3. Politics
andliterature“GreatBritain“History“20thcentury. 4. Socialclasses
inliterature. 5. Sexroleinliterature. 6. Nationalismin
literature. 7. Nationalcharacteristics,English,inliterature.
8. Politicalfiction,English“Historyandcriticism. I. Title.
PR6029.R8Z6192007
828’.91209“dc22 2007060027
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
For Lyn and Carl
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Contents
Acknowledgements viii
NoteonText ix
Introduction 1
1 Class 13
2 Gender 63
3 TheoriesofNationalism 98
4 Englishness 124
5 Totalitarianism 147
Conclusion 166
Notes 174
SelectedBibliography 206
Index 222
vii
Acknowledgements
This book began as a doctoral thesis, which I wrote at Oxford
under the supervision of John Carey and, following his retirement,
DavidBradshaw.Iamgratefultobothfortheirhelpandguidance.Iam
alsoindebtedtotheA.H.R.B.,ExeterCollege,andtoallthoseinOxford
whoofferedadviceandsupport,loveandfriendship.Myfinalyearwas
a particular pleasure, and I imagine few people have found writing up
soenjoyable.
JamesHowarthhasbeeninvolvedwiththisprojectsinceitsinception
almost ten years ago and has helped at every stage. Robert Eaglestone
gave me invaluable advice on turning my thesis into a book and
patiently worked through the various versions of my proposal, whilst
the reader for Palgrave provided guidance on restructuring the text.
I am grateful to Helena Feder for many things, including her help and
supportwhilstIwasrewritingthebookinitsfinalform.PaulaKennedy,
Christabel Scaife and Geetha Naren have been kind and efficient in
guidingmethroughthepublicationprocess.
Chapter4wasfirstpublishedas‘OrwellandEnglishness’intheReview
ofEnglishStudies,volume57,number228,pp.83–105.Iamgratefulto
theeditorsforpermissiontorepublishithere.QuotationsfromOrwell’s
Collected Works are used by permission of Bill Hamilton as the Literary
Executor of the Estate of the Late Sonia Brownell Orwell and Secker &
WarburgLtd.ExcerptsfromTheCollectedEssays,JournalismandLettersof
GeorgeOrwell,VolumesI–IVV,copyright©1968bySoniaBrownellOrwell
and renewed 1996 by Mark Hamilton, are reprinted by permission of
Harcourt,Inc.
viii
Note on Text
All references to Orwell letters, journalism and essays in this book are
takenfromPeterDavison’sedition,TheCompleteWorksofGeorgeOrwell
(London:Secker&Warburg,1997–8).Incontrasttoreferencestoother
works, these are given in brackets in the text, rather than in endnotes.
Theformatusedforthefirstreferencetoaparticularentryis:
(VolumeNumber:PageRange:PageReference)
Areferencetothefirstpageofthearticle‘CharlesDickens’,forexample,
reprinted on pages 20 to 57 of the twelfth volume, A Patriot After All,
wouldthusbegivenas(12:20–57:20).Infuturereferencesthepagerange
is omitted, although the volume number is repeated where it is felt
this would help the reader in locating the article. For obvious reasons,
no page range is given where an article occupies only a single page.
ReferencestoOrwell’snovelsanddocumentarystudies,publishedinthe
firstninevolumesofTheCompleteWorks,aregiveninendnotes.
ix